Although it may sound odd to the uninitiated, there is a significant market for the small intestines of large domesticated meat animals, i.e. cattle, sheep and hogs. In European and Hispanic cultures, these intestines are used in sausage making as the skin of sausage. In Hispanic cultures, intestines are known as tripas and are also prepared as a dish of that name. Additionally, other cultures of the world find intestines to be a delicacy.
It is accordingly necessary in a meat packing plant to clean the small intestines or tripas so they may be sold through conventional channels. At present, the standard technique is to cut the tripas into much shorter manageable lengths than appear in nature. The length of the small intestines of slaughtered domestic animals varies considerably, depending on the species and on the size of the individual animal. The longest tripas measured in the course of development of this invention was 76' which was from a very large steer or bull. The shortest tripas that can be expected in a meat packing plant is probably on the order of 20'. Typically, the tripas is cut into manageable lengths, such as 9-11', on a horizontal stainless steel table, placed over hooks extending from a spigot and allowed to hang vertically. The spigot is turned on. Some water runs inside and some splashes outside the tripas to flush the contents into a drain in the floor. The washed tripas are removed from the hooked spigots and piled on the floor until an armful is collected and placed in a shipping box.
This technique leaves much to be desired because it is both unsanitary and costly. Those workers cutting the tripas into 9-11' lengths must grab one end thereby contaminating that end. Cutting the tripas with a knife inherently contaminates both ends because the knife is not washed between cuttings. The worker does not have a hand to hold the loose end and some of the contents inevitably leak onto the table at the cut. When the cut section is pulled from the horizontal table to its vertical hanging position, some contents inevitably leak out the bottom onto the table and onto the floor. When the washed tripas are pulled from the hooks holding them in a vertical position, they are piled up on the floor and are ultimately picked up as a bundle by a worker and placed in a shipping box. All in all, it is not a pretty scene.
In addition, this process is labor intensive. In a packing plant killing 150 head of cattle an hour, there will be 13-15 people per shift working on the tripas line.
Disclosures of interest are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 964,006; 1,302,194; 1,492,697; 2,100,587 and 3,049,749.